Returning Home
by myahoo
Summary: Three years ago, Uzumaki Naruto was banished from Konoha, disappearing off the map completely. This year, Konoha is hosting the Chuunin Exams and there's a team with a member who has the family name Uzumaki. What connection could he have to Naruto?
1. Prologue

This is my first Naruto fic. Just a heads-up. There's a long author's note at the bottom, if you care to read it.

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Dawn broke over Konohagakure no Sato, illuminating the five faces of the Hokage Monument and the lone spot of yellow that could be found atop the Yondaime's head. Uzumaki Naruto, proud shinobi of Konoha and the jinchuuriki of the nine-tailed fox, Kyuubi, had been sitting in his favorite spot since early that morning when he had woken up with a foreboding feeling in the pit of his stomach. He'd quickly climbed to this familiar spot in an effort to calm himself down with the sight of his beloved village, completely rebuilt after Pein's devastating attack several days ago.

By the time he had assured himself of the village's peace, the sun was beginning to rise, so he settled himself on his idol and father's head to enjoy the sight he knew was coming. It had been almost three and a half years since he could just sit and enjoy the colors, after all. The horizon was lightening, pinks and oranges slowly replacing the purples and indigos, while Naruto silently watched the wonder that was the sunrise.

Had any one of Naruto's more recent acquaintances come across him, they would have been surprised that the hyperactive, knuckle-headed blonde could stay still for long enough to even see the sun rise. For his closer friends though, this would have been one of the first places they would have checked if they needed him and hadn't found him at his apartment this early in the day. But then, his closer friends knew him better, knew to look underneath the underneath, as Hatake Kakashi would say, and had made the effort to meet the real Naruto; to not just befriend the hyperactive, cheerful, stubborn, loud, annoying mask, but to dig deeper to find the guarded, intelligent, wary, quiet, observant face hidden by the mask and the villagers' treatment; to then make sure that he could be comfortable dropping the mask in their presence, should he wish to. Few chose to make that effort-few even knew that was an option—and so, the mask remained, fooling almost everyone and forcing Naruto to take the name of the "dobe" and "dead last."

Though he was gaining many friends that would fall into the first category, the second had only increased by a few members. The recently deceased Gama Sannin, Jiraiya, and the former Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, had been a part of that second group and Naruto had mourned their passing as Team 10 had Asuma's. After all, very few people went through the effort to know the true Naruto, so he treasured those that did.

The barest flicker of chakra behind him caused him to pull out a kunai and tense, though he recognized the chakra of one of his close friends. He'd had to watch his own back, since he was four years old and that was a habit he retained when he dropped his mask. Turning his head to the side, he caught sight of the cat mask and returned to looking over the village with a nod of acknowledgement, replacing the kunai into his weapons pouch. The ANBU stood silently, taking in the view for a few seconds before giving Naruto the message.

"The council has requested your presence immediately."

Naruto continued gazing out to the training fields, trying to capture the peace and stillness of the moment, before sighing and standing up. Grimacing at the council's order, he stretched and yawned, taking one last glance at the view as he turned away, face falling into a scowl.

"Alright. Let's go see what the old geezers want."

With a burst of chakra, the two shinobi disappeared, leaving the monument empty and silent. A leaf fell, riding the wind off the monument and vanishing into the distance beyond the gates.

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In front of the entrance to the council chambers, two shinobi stood, waiting for the council to summon one of them in. One had dark clothing, white armor, and a cat mask. The other had messy, bright, sun-kissed blonde hair and deep, pure blue eyes. This one wore a black jacket with orange stripes along the sleeves and orange pants. While the first one stood completely still, the second fidgeted, tossing a kunai up and down, up and down.

"Weren't they the ones who wanted to see me immediately?" Naruto grumbled, still annoyed that they had called him so early. The ANBU didn't respond.

Several minutes later, the blonde was ready to smash the door down and demand they tell him what they wanted, when a nondescript Chuunin finally called him in. Naruto hitched his mask on, wiping the frustrated expression off his face and pasting a bright smile in its place.

"All right, finally! Maybe they're gonna make me a Chuunin for saving the village. Hehe, see ya later, Neko-nee-chan," Naruto exclaimed, hurrying into the room. The cat could only look after him, saying nothing and hoping that everything would be alright.

He ambled into the room with his hands behind his head and a huge smile on his face. "Hi Oji-sans, Obaa-sans! What's this all about? Am I gonna be a Chuunin now? I was great, wasn't I?" He scanned the members in the room, recognizing that they were all civilians, and the foreboding feeling that had woken him that morning increased, settling in his stomach and seeping into his veins. His smile dimmed, his arms dropping to his sides as he asked, "Where're the others? Jiji's teammates and the other shinobi?"

"Uzumaki Naruto," one of the civilian heads began, keeping to the shadows to protect himself, "you have been called here to receive your sentence. Remain silent unless spoken to." He could almost hear the sneer on the civilian's face.

With a sinking feeling, Naruto realized that he didn't recognize any of the council members, meaning they had only heard of him as the demon fox, the monster, the evil that the Sandaime had refused to kill. He knew he wouldn't like whatever came next.

"Uzumaki Naruto, Konoha shinobi and jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, you have been declared dangerous by this council, based on evidence from the most recent invasion and previous reports. You almost released the Kyuubi during the invasion of the Akasuki member, Pein, correct?"

"Yes," he said, knowing that he was forcing himself into a corner and helpless to prevent it. Everyone had seen that; there would be no point in lying about it.

Another council member continued, "And it was because Akatsuki was looking for you that this Pein came in the first place, correct?"

Seeing no way to get out of answering the question, Naruto replied, "Yes, but—"

A third council member cut him off, speaking over him. "And because you lived here, Uchiha Sasuke encountered the nuke-nin Uchiha Itachi, which resulted in Uchiha Sasuke's later defection?"

Outraged, he yelped, "How could you pin that on me? Sasuke-teme's the one—"

"Answer the question, Uzumaki." Naruto could almost see the self-satisfied smile on the council members' faces.

Gritting his teeth in anger, he growled out, "I suppose so."

"Then, by your own admission, Konoha would be safer without you here." The blonde's jaw dropped, as he registered what the unnamed council member said and replayed the conversation of the last few minutes. He cursed under his breath when he found it true and braced himself for the only sentence that could possibly follow.

"Uzumaki Naruto, you are no longer a shinobi of Konoha. You are hereby banished from Konohagakure. Should you step foot in Konoha from the moment you next leave the gates, you will be detained and executed. You will have two hours to gather your things and leave before we will _make_ you leave. Turn in your hitai-ate at the gate."

Even though he knew it was coming, Naruto still felt the sentence as a blow to the stomach. Leave? Leave Konoha? And never come back? Leave the only home he'd ever known, even if it hated and despised him? It hurt, hurt in a way he didn't know could be possible. Was this how Sasuke felt when his clan was almost wiped out? And his hitai-ate! The one he had personally earned from Iruka-sensei, the one he'd used to protect Baa-san, the one he'd worn when he fought Sasuke; they wanted him to give it back? He mentally snarled. Fuck them. He hadn't let Zabuza take it and he wouldn't let these stupid, old bastards take it from him.

He blanked his face, bowing to the council before turning to leave. A last-minute order made him pause and face them again. "You are not to tell anyone of this. Though you are banished, as long as you are within the gates, you remain under our jurisdiction. No one is to know or we will spread the word that you are the jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox and that through you, it still lives."

With a stiff nod, he spun on his heel, leaving through the door and slamming it childishly behind him. Out of sight of the civilian council, Naruto spread out his senses, searching for any chakra signatures near him. Finding none, he dropped his mask, the blank expression morphing into a furiously stormy face as he dwelled on his sentence. He didn't realize that he had been releasing killing intent until the cat appeared in front of him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Looking up, Naruto recognized the signals that the cat was giving him and closed his eyes to try to calm down.

Focus on breathing.

In. Out. In. Out. In. Out.

Sealing all the anger into another part of his mind, he prepared himself to visit all of his friends one last time.

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Two hours and about seventy bowls of ramen later, almost four full teams of Konoha shinobi stood at the gate to send off one of their own. Naruto smiled and laughed with a happiness he didn't feel, but he'd done this before; there were very few people who could see that it was false.

"Bye, Naruto!"

"Return soon."

"Don't die."

"Take care."

"I'll come back as soon as I can, guys." He waved, cheerfully. "See ya around."

Naruto turned and walked through the gate, his friends watching him leave. His former sensei, Hatake Kakashi, walked alongside him, reading his orange book. Naruto glanced at him, waiting for his sensei to speak, knowing that the silver-haired man would only talk when he was ready.

"You're not coming back." Naruto grinned and shook his head.

"I can't tell you, Kakashi-sensei. I've been told that I can't tell anyone about it." He looked around, spreading his senses as Kakashi did too, only feeling his friends and the gate keepers. Lowering his voice, he commented, "But tell Inu-nii-san that I don't even know if I'll be allowed to return. This could be the last time I see anyone in Konoha for the rest of my life. I'll miss him." Naruto looked back at his friends, waiting at the gate. "And them. A lot." He turned back to the front. "You should go back, Kakashi-sensei. They need you there."

The jounin gave the blonde a measuring look, eye unreadable as Naruto matched him look for look. Kakashi reluctantly gave in and turned to go.

"Take care of yourself, Naruto, and I'll take care of them. As much as I can." He smiled behind his mask, his visible eye curving into an upside-down u.

A small, genuine smile appeared on the blonde's face, lighting up his eyes. "Thanks, Kakashi-sensei." He hesitated, smile shrinking. "I'll try to visit."

"Alright." Kakashi waved lazily as Naruto took off through the trees, heading east. The silver-haired jounin watched another of his students leave, feeling as though Team 7 was more broken than it was when Sasuke left. Somehow, he knew that the next time he saw Naruto, things would be very different.

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_The next day…_

A crowd of civilians and shinobi were gathered in front of the civilian council. They had been summoned by the council because the council had an announcement to make concerning a very prominent shinobi that would concern the entire village. As the head of the civilian council appeared before the crowd, they quieted down, curious about this pronouncement.

"With the Godaime Hokage in a coma and the Rokudaime Hokage at the meeting, we have been able to get something done, something that we think will be cause of great celebration for the citizens of Konoha," he began, smug and confident. The crowd whispered among themselves, some speculating about what the civilians had done, others completely clueless. Looking around self-assuredly, he continued, "The demon brat, who has plagued us for sixteen years, has been banished. He is not to return to Konoha under pain of death."

The head of the civilian council expected the crowd to be ecstatic, cheering and celebrating the absence of the monster. He thought the civilians, at least, would congratulate the council for taking advantage of the Hokages' absense to get rid of the fiend. What he didn't expect was the absolute shock that fell over the mass of people as they figured out who exactly had been banished. He never anticipated that shock becoming anger on Naruto's behalf. He never thought the denizens would become furious at him for sending the evil being away, beginning to shout abuse and toss harsh glares his way. Scanning the crowd, he saw that even the civilians were defending the fox brat. Completely bewildered, he did nothing as the crowd surged towards him, intent on making him recall Naruto.

As the shinobi halfheartedly tried to restrain the mob, a group of shinobi was huddled together some distance away, discussing Naruto. All of the Konoha Twelve, with the exception of Naruto and Sasuke, and their senseis were frantically trying to put together a plan to track him down.

"Shikamaru, Kiba, Neji, if you want to find him, we'd better go soon, before we lose his trail," Kakashi said, completely serious.

"Alright."

"Troublesome."

"We'll bring him back in no time. How hard could it be to find him anyway?" Akamaru barked in agreement.

Turning to look at Kiba, Kakashi replied, "You'd be surprised."

Kiba was confused, as were many of the others. "What do you mean?"

"You'll see." came the response.

With that, the four blurred and took off, heading for the gate and the forest beyond.

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There you go. The prologue to Returning Home.

First, I'd like to know if I should continue this. I've had this idea for a while, but I didn't know if I should post it.

Second, I don't have a beta. Just so you all know. I'm not really asking for one either, but I'd appreciate any constructive criticism given about the characters and writing.

Third, I will try to actually get this story written through, if I continue it. I am winging it as I go, but I have a general outline about things I want to do near the beginning. After that, I'm not so sure what'll happen, but I'll try to keep writing.

I think that's it. Thanks for reading and leave a review, if you want me to continue.

Originally posted: February 5, 2011

Edited and reuploaded: February 19, 2011


	2. Timeskips

I completely forgot to put the disclaimer in last chapter, so I need to put it in here.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, I wouldn't be writing fanfic.

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_At the Five Kage Summit…_

"We will not abandon hope," Gaara replied, staring up at Uchiha Madara.

"Very well…In that case, I hereby declare—"**[1]** He began, before pausing and looking to his right where another Zetsu was forming out of the wall.

"Another one of those!"

"How interesting."

Madara ignored the reactions of the Raikage and the Tsuchikage, waiting slightly impatiently for Zetsu to say his piece.

"The Kyuubi jinchuuriki has been banished from Konoha. He left yesterday at about noon and began heading east before circling around and heading west. He appears to be trying to find refuge in Sunagakure no Sato," Zetsu reported.

"What?"

"They threw Naruto out?"

"Konoha are idiots. Why did Danzou allow that to happen?"

"We need to track him down and hide him away. He's"—this was accompanied with a jab in orange-masked man's direction—"going to go after him as soon as he can, and, from what I heard, that jinchuuriki's not the best ninja around."

"How stupid is Konoha? Why wouldn't you keep your jinchuuriki around? Why would you even give a jinchuuriki more reason to hate your village and want to see it destroyed?"

Madara looked on amusedly as they discussed and, confident in his ability to track the jinchuuriki, he decided to toy with them.

"I'll give you a head start on finding the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. How does two days sound? After two days, I'll begin my search for that jinchuuriki and if you haven't found him by then," he shrugged, smirking behind his mask, "good luck trying to beat me to him." There was no way they'd be able to keep the jinchuuriki from him, if they found it, so it didn't matter either way; the Kyuubi would still become his, in the end.

With a swirl of distorted reality, Madara was gone, leaving the Kages to plan. At the end of the day, the remaining four Kages were heading back to their respective villages at full speed, prepared to scour their countries for any sign of a blonde, blue-eyed, orange-and-black wearing ninja with three whisker marks on each cheek. They were going to have to work together to find the jinchuuriki before Madara did and that's what they planned to do.

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**_Somewhere in Hi no Kuni (Fire Country)…_

"I lost his trail. Again." A whine.

A sigh. "Alright guys, let's spread out and see if we can pick up the trail."

"How can you keep losing the trail? Didn't you say it'd be easy?" A growl.

"Troublesome, there they go again."

"Shut up, Neji! I'd like to see you try to track him through this forest without losing the trail at least once." Several angry barks.

"Kiba, calm down. Neji, there's a good reason Kiba's finding it hard to follow Naruto's trail. Naruto can be the stealthiest ninja you've ever met. When he wants to be."

"With his orange pants? He couldn't hide in the village."

"Or, or how about with his bright orange jumpsuit from when he was twelve?" A snicker. "I dunno 'bout you, but I'm finding it hard to believe that that eyesore could be hidden."

"Hmm, well think about this. You'd have to be pretty good to avoid the ninja after pulling a prank, right?"

"Of course, but Iruka always caught Naruto and he's a chuunin."

"Yes, but have you ever seen anyone else catch Naruto? And have you ever seen Naruto when he's doing his bigger pranks, like painting the Hokage Monument?"

"No. What's that got to do with anything?"

Silence.

"Kuso!**[2]** He's been hiding this whole time."

"Huh?" Another whine.

"Shikamaru's right. Naruto's been faking his idiocy. And he has to be skilled to allow only Iruka to catch him and not get caught when he does those idiotic stunts of his. He's also been able to hide this from everyone for so long…We'd better find his trail fast or we really will lose him."

"I still don't get it. Naruto's only been pretending to be an idiot?"

"Kiba, if Naruto really was an idiot, do you think he could have painted Hokage Monument prank without getting caught? Or avoided the other ninja for as long as he did until Iruka got out there?"

Silence again.

"I found his scent. Kiba, take point again. Neji, follow him. Shikamaru and I will take up the rear. We'd better hurry; the scents are fading."

"Right." A bark.

Only the slightest trembling of the tree branches indicated that a conversation had taken place here. **[3]**

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_Nami no Kuni (Wave Country)…_

Night had already fallen over Nami no Kuni and Tazuna and his family were preparing for the night. Tazuna and Inari had recently returned from Konoha, having helped in the rebuilding of the village, and both were being fussed over by Tsunami. A knock on the door made them pause, wondering who would need construction help this late at night. Another knock had Tsunami hurrying over to open the door.

"Hello? What can we help you with?" she asked the shadowed figure, standing just outside the circle of light.

It moved into the light, revealing the shape to be Naruto. A somewhat dejected Naruto, but Naruto nonetheless. "Could I stay here for a bit? I was…well, I just need somewhere to spend the night."

"Oh, of course, of course. Come in, Naruto. Have you eaten yet? No? You must be hungry. I'll make something for you." Tsunami guided the quiet ninja to a seat at the table and had him sit, before she began cooking some food.

"Naruto? What are you doing here?" Inari entered, confused but happy. "Things are fine in Konoha, right?" he asked, becoming worried when he saw how silent Naruto was.

"Yeah, things are fine in Konoha. There's nothing to worry about. I'm just here on my way to my next mission." Naruto hitched up that false face, so that Inari wouldn't worry. "It's gotta be a secret, though. No one's supposed to know where I am."

Tazuna came in and, having seen how Naruto had suddenly become that loud, boisterous brat from three years ago, he became suspicious of Naruto's cheer. However, he brushed that off, deciding to worry about that later.

"That's good. Glad to know things are still fine." Tazuna studied Naruto, debating whether to tell him something he knew would interest any orphan. "Any particular reason you decided to drop by here for the night?"

Naruto shrugged. "I know you guys and I know I can trust you guys not to go around telling people that I'm here. Besides, I wanted to spend some time with Inari here." He smiled that huge, bright smile and reached out to ruffle Inari's hair. The young boy protested loudly, swatting at the hand and Naruto laughed, causing Inari to smile with him, glad that Naruto was happier.

Tsunami placed a plate in front of Naruto, content now that he was cheerful again. The food disappeared quickly, while Naruto entertained the small family with tales of his adventures. He avoided many of the battles and fights he had gotten into, but told them of traveling with Jiraiya and of the ridiculous situations they would get into.

As they were finally leaving to sleep, Tazuna pulled Naruto aside.

"Brat, there's something you should know. Nothing bad," Tazuna reassured the suddenly worried Naruto, "just know it'd probably interest you."

Curious, Naruto waited expectantly. The old man took a deep breath, before continuing, "What do you know about your mother?"

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_Shuumatsu no Tani (Valley of the End)…_**[4]**

Trees flew by in a blur as the four shinobi continued tracking their teammate, trying not to remember how they had traveled along the same path almost three years ago, how they had fallen, one by one, to each of the Sound Four, and how, when all was said and done, Sasuke had still left them for Orochimaru. Despite their suppression of the memories, a single thought echoed among the four, as they followed the trail that would lead them to the sunny blonde.

I hope this isn't a repeat of _that_.

Ahead of them, flashes of orange told them that they were catching up to Naruto. Or maybe he was letting them catch up. Whatever the reason, the four were determined to convince their comrade to return with them.

Not even a minute later, the forest ended in the valley where, three years ago, Naruto and Sasuke fought atop the water, determined to see their wishes come true. Only a few reminders remained of that fight, the weather having worn away most of them. The orange-and-black-clad shinobi stood on the water, surveying the valley with his back towards his comrades as they touched down behind him.

"Naruto! Why didn't you tell us?" Kiba demanded, as soon as they stopped. The blonde shrugged, turning to face them.

"I'd rather everyone _not_ be reminded that I'm a jinchuuriki. They're only just beginning to treat me like a normal person, you know," he replied, nonchalantly, seemingly completely relaxed.

"Well, don't worry about it. The entire village heard about your 'banishment' and _everyone_ got pissed." Kiba chuckled, remembering the outrage coming from the crowd. "You should've seen it, man. It was awesome. In fact, they might still be rampaging. If we hurry, we could get back and see them beat on the civilian council." He rubbed his hands in anticipation for seeing the beating. Those idiots tried to kick out one of his friends; they deserved what they got from the villagers.

While Kiba was imagining the morons getting beat to a pulp, the other two of the Konoha Twelve were silently studying Naruto. Neji was sure that the person in front of them was Naruto, but his gut was telling him that it wasn't. He'd checked with his Byakugan and the tenketsu matched those of Naruto's, yet he still felt as though the individual wasn't Naruto. Shikamaru, however, was more suspicious. He knew that it was possible that the trail they'd been following wasn't Naruto's or that Naruto left that path behind on purpose. Therefore, the only reason this would be Naruto was if Naruto had chosen to let them meet, which didn't make sense if he took into account the fact that Naruto hadn't even told them that he'd been banished. So, was this a Kage Bunshin, then? Akamaru whined and pawed at Kiba's foot, trying to tell him that the being in front of them smelled like smoke and air. The huge dog knew that his partner was relying more on his eyes than his nose and choosing to trust his eyes because he didn't want Naruto to disappear. The white dog didn't want the shinobi to leave either, but you couldn't control your packmates unless you were Alpha, which Kiba wasn't.

Kakashi gave a silent sigh. He'd almost immediately suspected that this was one of Naruto's Kage Bunshin—after all, Naruto always chose whether to let himself get caught, no one else—and that thought was confirmed when the Bunshin gave him one of Naruto's signs. [Bunshin.] was all it said and he knew that Naruto was already long gone.

Shikamaru spoke up, intending to confirm his thought. "Hey, you gonna tell us where the real Naruto is? We kinda want him back home. Even if he is completely troublesome."

Naruto grinned, that wide, bright grin with eyes squinted. "Shoulda known you'd figure it out first, Shika. Or, at least, be the first to voice it," he commented, glancing at Neji. The prodigy nodded, recalling their Chuunin Exam match three years ago.

"So you aren't even the real Naruto?" Kiba demanded, quickly becoming angry about the fact that Naruto wasn't even there.

"No, I'm not. I'm just a Kage Bunshin the Boss sent out to lead you guys away from where he was really heading," admitted the Bunshin. Seeing Kiba open his mouth, the Bunshin quickly continued, "And I can't tell you, since I don't know myself. Would you tell any of your helpers where you'd be going if you knew there was a good chance someone would find him?"

The dog-like boy reluctantly shook his head, making the Bunshin grin and nod his head. "Exactly."

"Why did you hide?" Neji finally asked. "If that trail was an accurate representation of your skills, you should have graduated long before you did and near the top, if not at the top, of the class."

The Bunshin shrugged again. "I didn't want to. It was more fun pissing people off and screwing around than advancing quickly. Besides, if I had, who would've beaten your fate-focused, hatred-driven, darkness-filled self?" He smirked, poofing into a cloud of smoke, leaving his comrades with no way to track him.

"Dammit! Where'd you go? You were supposed to come back, dobe," Kiba snarled at the air.

Neji merely shook his head at Naruto's last comment and at Kiba's response. "We won't be able to follow him now."

Shikamaru continued to stare at the spot where the blonde Bunshin stood. Turning to leave, he asked, "Did you know he was like this, Kakashi?"

The silver-haired jounin hummed in acquiescence. As they reached the trees again, he added, eye smiling, "Oh, and congratulations. You've just met Naruto."

* * *

Back at the valley, Zetsu formed partway out of the ground. There was no trace of the Kage Bunshin and no chakra trail to follow. Even the chakra path that had led the Konoha shinobi to the place had disappeared.

"Madara won't be happy about this. He was sure he'd be able to trace the jinchuuriki," stated the missing-nin. He knew there would be no trail from the gates, even if the container had left one; the weather and movement of other shinobi would have ruined the trace by now. With another glance around the valley, the two-colored nin melted back into the ground to report back to Madara.

* * *

_Konohagakure no Sato (Village Hidden in the Leaves)…_

"So Uchiha Madara really _is_ alive?" Tsunade asked from where she was sitting behind a table covered with empty dishes. She'd woken up a few hours ago and had been trying to replenish her chakra reserves quickly when Kakashi had entered.

"I don't have any solid proof, but considering his plan, I doubt it could be anyone else," the jounin replied.**[5] **He studied the Godaime briefly, trying to decide if now was the best time to tell her about Naruto. With a shrug, he chose to tell her and then step back to watch the carnage. She'd be able to do more about it than he could, anyway. "I don't know if Shizune's already told you, but the civilian council banished Naruto almost a week ago. I just returned yesterday with Shikamaru, Neji, and Kiba, after trying to track him down."

"They WHAT?" The Godaime Hokage was on her feet in a second, eyes blazing and fury evident in every line of her body. "How _dare_ they kick him out, especially after everything he's done for them over the years? Those absolute morons!" she snarled, storming out of the room and intent on giving those stupid civilians a piece of her mind. "What right did they have to send him away? They don't have the authority or the intelligence to be making those kinds of decisions. When I'm done with them, they'll wish they'd never decided to take advantage of Sensei's leniency."

Turning to face Kakashi and Shizune, both of whom had followed her, she asked, "Weren't you the best tracker in the ANBU? How could you lose him, Kakashi?"

Completely serious and slightly offended, Kakashi retorted, "I still am, as a matter of fact. The only reason I lost him is he's had experience, _plenty_ of experience, evading all manners of ninja. He's even lost the Sandaime, for Kami's sake. He knows how to disappear."

"I can see that," the blonde Hokage replied, dryly. "I would think you'd take that into account before trying to follow him." Kakashi didn't respond, but as they approached the council chambers, Tsunade began to grin in anticipation. "I'll make sure they never have the chance to do this again," she swore, before pushing the door open and entering.

* * *

_One year later, Konoha…_

Things had been rather quiet since Naruto had disappeared. Madara had left both Konoha and Kumo alone so far, focusing all his efforts into finding the blonde jinchuuriki. After all, he wouldn't have to fight anyone for the Kyuubi, not like he'd have to for the Hachibi, at the moment. He wasn't having as much luck as he'd thought he would. Sasuke, however, had fought with some Konoha shinobi in skirmishes over the past year, though neither side had been able to eliminate the other each time they met. The civilian council had been completely replaced with more reasonable members, who'd rescinded the order banishing Naruto in the first place. Now they just had to find him to tell him that.

No one had been able to find him, despite Tsunade having sent out the best trackers she had. She'd even sent missives to the other Kages, but everything she received had said that no one had seen him since the four-man team had met his Kage Bunshin a year ago. Everyone kept their ears open for any rumors that could point them to Naruto's location, but nothing came up. It was almost as though he'd completely disappeared off the face of the world.

Konoha hadn't been the same since. It seemed like a dark cloud had covered the village with Naruto's absence, lowering the mood for everyone. No one had realized just how _bright_ and _optimistic _Naruto had been and how he'd been able to make everything seem that much better until he wasn't there anymore.

It was a wake-up call to the remaining few who hated Naruto, albeit a harsh one. Everywhere those former council members went, they received despising looks, inflated prices, and cold shoulders. In short, they received the same treatment that they had encouraged against Naruto, before he'd earned the respect and goodwill of his comrades. Shunned and bitter, some hated Naruto for putting them in this position and complained to their fellow victims, firmly believing that they were in the right and that the demon had bewitched the entire village. Others became ashamed of their previous behavior, especially once they began speaking to people who had known the blonde shinobi, and took their punishment in silence, resolving to find a way to make it up to the whiskered nin.

This bright day, almost the anniversary of Naruto's disappearance—many preferred to see it as a disappearance, instead of the banishment that it originally had been—there was a commotion at the main gate of Konoha. A squad of ex-Ne**[6]** carried the limp body to an interrogation room in Konoha's T&I headquarters.

Uchiha Sasuke had returned to Konoha.

* * *

"There was no indication as to who put him there? And we have no one who could figure out what the seal around the Curse Seal does?" Tsunade demanded of Tori**[7]**, who had been one of the ANBU that retrieved the missing-nin. The bird shook his head to both questions before indicating the table lain out with everything that they'd removed from Sasuke. The only thing that really stood out, though, was a piece of paper, which appeared to have nothing on it. Curious, Tsunade picked it up and turned it over in her hands.

"It's completely blank?" she half-stated, half-asked, examining the white sheet. The Godaime caught Tori nodding in the corner of her eye. "Interesting," murmured the Hokage. Casually deciding to try something, she channeled a little bit of chakra to her fingers and nearly dropped the paper as little black streaks appeared on it. She waved the ANBU down, him having tensed at her reaction, and studied the page. It was almost completely white again, the black fading away as time passed.

"I wonder…" Tsunade began channeling the same amount of chakra as she had before and, sure enough, the black streaks came back, not that they made any sense. However, as she continued feeding chakra into the paper, more black streaks appeared and connected with other black lines until she began to recognize the formations as kanji.

"'I've fulfilled my promise, just like I said I would'?" she read aloud, confused.

A sharp intake of air made the Godaime look up and meet the shocked, saddened green eyes of her one-time apprentice.

"Sakura?" the Sannin asked, seeing the pink-haired teen shake her head with a heartbreakingly sad smile.

"Naruto brought him back, Tsunade-sensei," Sakura whispered. Clearing her throat, she continued, speaking softly. "When Sasuke left the village and Naruto and everyone was preparing to go after him, I asked him to bring Sasuke back. And he told me that he would bring Sasuke back and that it was the promise of a lifetime." The green eyes dropped away and closed. "Looks like he finally did it." _And I didn't do a thing._ A smiling image of a blonde, whiskered ninja popped up in her mind. _C'mon, Sakura-chan, _it seemed to say, _cheer up. He's back and we'll make sure he doesn't leave again. We'll show him that he needs us, no matter how much he says to the contrary._ The imaginary response brought a smile to her face. Naruto was right; Sasuke needed to remember how to be a human being and, since Naruto wasn't here, it was up to her to make sure he recalled it. Sakura looked up again, resolved to help Sasuke for Naruto, for herself, and for Sasuke's idiotic, immature self. _Thank you, Naruto._

"Is that so…" Tsunade turned thoughtful eyes to the now-blank-again piece of paper. _Even banished from Konoha, you still protect your precious people, huh, Naruto?_

* * *

_Two years later, Konoha…_

"We will be holding the Chuunin Exams in Konoha this year," the Godaime Hokage announced to a group of jounin, surveying them. Every single one of the Konoha Twelve had eventually been promoted to jounin over the last two years, with two entering the ANBU ranks and two taking on genin teams. Konoha had prospered, as had all the other countries, with Madara completely focused on capturing Naruto and frustrated enough to leave the Hidden Villages alone. Everything was as it had been before Pain attacked, but all the villages were building up their forces in preparation for when Madara's attention returned to the Hachibi. The Chuunin Exams had begun again and, once Sasuke had been returned to them, Konoha had fully participated in them. This year, though, Konoha would host the Chuunin Exams, seeing as they hadn't held them since before Pain's attack, to show the other villages that they were ready for Madara.

"Alright. Shikamaru, you'll be the proctor for the first exam," the Sannin Hokage said.

The shadow user sighed, his hands in his pockets. "Fine." As the woman's gaze moved away, he muttered under his breath, "This'll be troublesome. Now, what to do…" Shikamaru closed his eyes to begin planning his exam.

"Kakashi, you've got the second exam. I trust you won't be late for this," Tsunade told him, glaring at him as though her glare could make him arrive on time for the test.

The silver-haired jounin nodded, falsely serious. "Of course not." He eye-smiled. The busty blonde barely contained the urge to roll her eyes.

She eyed Sasuke and Neji, weighing them with her gaze. "Sasuke, you'll have the third exam." She fixed him with her stare. "_Don't_ let the genin kill each other."

"Of course, Hokage-sama," said the Uchiha, staring her eye to eye. She inclined her head in response.

Looking over the rest of the jounin, Tsunade commanded, "We will hold the Exams in three weeks. Make sure that the genin who'll be participating are prepared and expect the foreign teams to start entering in a week. We'll need to tighten security as the Exams approach; we don't need a repeat of six years ago. There'll be another meeting in a few days where each of you who doesn't have other priorities will be signed up for patrols and checkpoints and the like. Dismissed." In seconds, the room was empty. Alone now, Tsunade sat down wearily and took out a bottle of sake from nowhere. "I hope you're doing well, wherever you are, Naruto. This old lady misses you badly," she commented, pretending Naruto could hear her.

* * *

A grey-eyed, fire-haired shinobi sneezed a few minutes after leaving his village. His genin team and accompanying jounin looked at him in concern, but a wave of his hand told them he was fine.

"Someone must be talking about you, Sensei," the female on the team teased.

Her sensei shrugged. "Let them talk. _I_ know I'll be fine and I know you guys'll do fine, so what's there to worry about?"

"Don't jinx it," one of the male genin quietly warned, as the five headed towards Konoha and the Chuunin Exams.

"Sensei just did," the other male genin groaned.

* * *

**[1] **Taken from the last page of chapter 468 from mangareader . net.

**[2]** Should translate to "shit."

**[3]** So, hopefully you could follow that. If not, I'll list the speakers here, in order. Kiba, Kakashi, Neji, Shikamaru, Kiba, Kakashi, Neji, Kiba, Kakashi, Kiba, Kakashi, Kiba, Shikamaru, Kiba, Neji, Kiba, Shikamaru, Kakashi, everyone but Kakashi.

**[4]** Taken from leafninja . com.

**[5] **Taken from page 6 of chapter 489 from mangareader . net.

**[6]** Should mean the ROOT ANBU that Danzou had.

**[7] **Should mean "bird."

Still not the actual chapter one; just a bunch of scenes to cover some things that'll happen between the banishment and the return. So, to cover a few things:

First, hope this chapter was able to explain how another three year time-skip was possible. Or made some sort of sense...

Again, I don't have a beta and I'm not really asking for one either, but I'd appreciate any constructive criticism given about the characters and writing.

After thinking about some of the details for the future, I realized that I'm going to be incorporating several more clichés into this story. Hopefully, they won't be _completely_ predictable, but I won't know until they actually come up and I get some response. But, another heads-up for everyone who's reading, there should be about two more huge ones, if I'm not mistaken.

So, that should be it this time. Thanks for reading and leave a review, if you want to.

Posted: February 19, 2011


	3. The Foreign Team

Disclaimer: I still don't own Naruto. *shrugs* Why anyone would think that is beyond me.

* * *

Three days had passed since the genin team had left their village and things were quiet now. The girl and one of the boys had stopped arguing, since they had run out of things to argue about, and walked silently next to their last teammate. The two jounin were following behind the three, each lost in his thoughts.

As the group of five walked along the path to Konoha, Hikaru was traveling down memory lane, tuning out the remaining noise around him. A little over six years ago, he'd walked down this exact same path with a different group of genin. He remembered talking loudly to a brooding, dark-haired Uchiha and a squealing, pink-haired fangirl, with his silver-haired, lazy jounin walking behind them. They were all cheerful and relaxed, returning to Konoha safely after a mislabeled mission and enjoying their walk back. At the time, he'd just been hiding behind his mask, instinctually sealing his competency into his mind, and allowing the idiot persona to protect him. Only Hokage-jiji, Iruka-sensei, Teuchi-ji-san, and Ayame-nee-chan had known his hidden self; he hadn't known the ANBU that watched over him were aware of his abilities and true personality.

"Sensei? Sensei. Hikaru-sensei!"

The fire-haired jounin shook himself out of his thoughts, returning to the present and his traveling companions. Turning to the genin that had called his name, he glanced at the only female on his team.

"Yes, Suzume?" The pale, black-haired, black-eyed girl looked uncertain, her eyes shifting away and back every few seconds.

"Ano, sensei, why do we have to hide our family names? I know you explained it to our parents, but…" She trailed off, hesitant and questioning.

For once, the auburn-haired, gray-eyed Kaito didn't start an argument with Suzume. He was still walking next to Suzume, but he'd moved a little closer to give her support. He, too, looked up at Hikaru, wanting to hear the answer. Brown-haired, sea-green-eyed Takumi was watching the exchange attentively, waiting for the answer also, but his silence was normal. Hikaru glanced at the other jounin accompanying them. Arashi, maroon-haired and gray-eyed like Kaito and himself, nodded at him to explain again. Arashi understood why, but he seemed to think Hikaru did a better job explaining.

With a sigh, the jounin-sensei of the genin team began to explain again. "Takumi actually doesn't need to hide his family name, seeing as his family rarely left the village. Ever. Very few people know of the Hisakawa Clan, so very few know what they can do. Uzumaki-sama wants them to remain as a secret back-up, even though their ability doesn't seem very…suited to combat." He shrugged, pausing in his explanation. Kaito and Suzume looked at their other teammate, who nodded in agreement with the last statement. Arashi didn't comment, wondering and imagining again how their ability could be used offensively.

"Okay…that explains Takumi, but what about Suzume and us? Why do we hafta hide which clan we're from?" Kaito demanded. Takumi rolled his eyes at his friend's impatience and Suzume nudged him with her elbow.

"Shut up, won't you? Sensei's gonna continue," she scolded. The other genin quieted, returning his attention to his sensei.

Hikaru continued, walking backwards to face his students. "Well, for us three"—he pointed to himself, Kaito, and Arashi—"our clan's supposed to be destroyed and scattered to the four winds. If we just walk into Konoha introducing ourselves with that name, _someone's_ gonna investigate, especially since Naruto had that family name, as well. Any relatives of the jinchuuriki are inspected thoroughly; their background, their history, everything about them is looked into and turned over several times before they are allowed near the jinchuuriki. Besides, we were attacked because people were scared of our fuinjutsu abilities. Do you want them to know we survived?"

Kaito shook his head, looking fearful of an attack, while Arashi, Takumi, and Suzume shivered at the reminder. There were stories of the attacks that destroyed Uzushiogakure almost thirty years ago**[1]**, and those were told to warn the children about who to trust when they began to take missions outside of Uzu. Even now, many of the citizens were still worried about attacks from other countries, so they guarded their location fiercely. Not even their great ally, Konoha, knew Uzushiogakure had been rebuilt.

Hikaru nodded. "Exactly. Now, Suzume. You probably weren't there when I first met with Uzumaki-sama, but the Uchiha of Konoha have practically been wiped out." She gasped in shock, eyes wide. Kaito and Takumi stumbled, before moving to surround Suzume and comfort her. They were surprised that such a talented and helpful clan had been almost wiped out, but their teammate was more important at the moment; they could wonder about it later when Suzume was back to smiling and teasing. She, on the other hand, couldn't believe the other half of her clan had been wiped out and they hadn't heard of it. Though Uzushiogakure had been pretty isolated since they'd almost been wiped out, they should have heard about it. Wouldn't one of the survivors send word?

"Why didn't someone tell us? Didn't they think we'd want to know?" Her grieving eyes turned to meet her sensei's currently-gray ones, who held her gaze for a few seconds before breaking away.

"At the time, everyone thought Uzu was gone and dead. I didn't even know there was another Uchiha clan outside of the Konoha one before I went to Uzu," he replied, trying not to remember the last Uchiha of Konoha and his own experiences with the brooding avenger.

"Oh…" Her voice was small and Hikaru became concerned; his female genin wasn't usually this quiet, but that information was some pretty shocking news. He could only hope she'd be fine by the time they reached Konoha.

"Anyway, if the council hears about a _female_ Uchiha in Konoha, they'll try to match her up with him to rebuild the Uchiha of Konoha." Hikaru continued over his genins' cries of outrage. "They valued the Sharingan like it was gold or something, so they'll do quite a bit to regain it."

"No. There is no way I'm letting them force Suzume into that," Kaito exclaimed when Hikaru stopped speaking.

Suzume had stopped walking, pale, but disgusted. "NO! I don't want to get married. I-I'm just starting my shinobi career; I don't want to have a family, yet. Especially with the _other_ branch of my clan." She shivered in disgust, wrapping her arms around herself.

Takumi reached over to give her a hug, eyes blazing in protective fury. "They even try it and they'll find themselves hanging from the tallest building in as tight a genjutsu as I can make."

Arashi and Hikaru exchanged glances, glad that the team was so close. Hikaru's thoughts drifted to a team who argued and fought each other all the time, but when it really mattered, they pulled together to get through whatever obstacle stood in their way. He looked at his team and hoped they wouldn't fall apart, unlikely as it was, because they wouldn't separate like that team did; they would shatter irreparably.

Hikaru added his own voice to his genins'. "Besides, did you really think I'd let them do that to my genin?" he asked with a reassuring grin. Arashi shook his head, as he saw the genin relax. Hikaru was the most reliable person he knew; if he didn't keep a promise or his word, it wouldn't be because he didn't try, that's for sure.

The talk turned to training, Konoha, and stories from Hikaru's past, effectively distracting the genin for now. Hikaru and Arashi both knew that the next few nights would mean nightmares and long thoughtful silences from the genin, as well as questions about the darker side of Konoha. It was something that they were loathe to do, but Suzume had asked, and it was better for the genin to be prepared than for all of this to be a surprise, if it should happen. It would be a couple of days before they reached Konoha anyway, so there was still time.

* * *

Kamizuki Izumo and Hagane Kotetsu were on gate guard duty. Again. Not that they minded much, as the position allowed them to be the first people to meet whoever entered, but it was usually boring beyond belief. However, with the Chuunin Exams beginning in a couple of days, there were plenty of people passing through the gate, merchants and foreign shinobi alike. Several of the competing teams had already been through and they'd had a chance to check them over for security purposes, but they'd also been able to judge the entering teams. So far, the ones that appeared to have the best chance of passing the first exam were that one team from Kumo, the team from Suna, and maybe that team from Ame.**[2]**

Right now, though, things were quiet. It was the middle of the day, the temperature was rising, and most people were eating lunch. The two shinobi were lazily sitting in the guard booth, hiding from the sun and occasionally glancing out toward the road, when they spotted a group of people. Curious to see who it was this time, but reluctant to leave the shade, they had a quick, silent, friendly argument about who would clear the newcomers, resulting in Kotetsu being forced out of the booth. He mock-scowled at his friend briefly, before leaning against the booth to wait for the group to arrive, studying the new arrivals as they took their time walking to the gate.

In the lead were two shinobi in their late teens. The first had maroon-colored hair and gray eyes, while the second had fire-colored hair and gray eyes. Both were wearing the flak jacket of a chuunin or jounin, but their scroll pouches were in the same place as those of Suna**[3]** and the jackets themselves were gray and blue. The maroon-haired one was lightly tanned, more slender than his companion, and wore his hitai-ate around his neck, while the fire-haired one was darkly tanned and wore his hitai-ate across his forehead.

Behind them were three kids, probably the genin team trying to advance. An auburn-haired, gray-eyed boy, who took after the fire-haired shinobi, was constantly looking around, as though he had never seen so many trees in his life. He wore his hitai-ate across his forehead like the fire-haired one, too. Next to him, a pale, black-haired, black-eyed girl, who reminded the two gate guards of an Uchiha, was walking and surveying the forests on either side of the path, though she looked less curious than the first boy. Her hitai-ate was hung around her neck, like the maroon-haired shinobi. Behind them, a brown-haired boy with sea-green eyes calmly followed his teammates, not seeming to care about the trees as the first two genin were. He had tied his hitai-ate around his right leg, so that the metal plate rested on his kunai pouch.

As they came close enough to see the symbols on their hitai-ate, Kotetsu was surprised to notice that he didn't recognize it. There were few shinobi villages whose symbols they didn't recognize, as they'd received many missions from villages all over the Shinobi Nations, due to their strong, yet kindly reputation, but this was definitely one of them. This one appeared to be a series of four waves and the only thing Kotetsu could assume was that a hidden village had formed in Nami no Kuni.

The five stopped at the gate, handing Kotetsu their papers and waiting for him to approve them. The Konoha shinobi scanned their papers, matching faces to names. The maroon-haired shinobi was Arashi, the fire-haired one Hikaru, the auburn-haired genin was Kaito, the girl Suzume, and the last one was Takumi. Hikaru was the jounin sensei of the genin team, with Arashi acting as a representative of their village. Checking the rest of their forms, he cleared them for entry, the entire time listening to their conversation.

"This is Konoha? It's huge." Kaito was the one who'd spoken.

"What did you expect? A village like the ones we walked past?" Suzume responded, rolling her eyes.

"No, but it's still bigger than I expected."

Izumo called from where he was hiding in the booth. "This your first time in Konoha?"

The genin nodded, looking curiously at the other shinobi. "And you're here for the Chuunin Exams?" Another round of nodding. "Then, you'll probably wanna head for the hotel near the center of the village. It's the closest to most of the major places you'll use or need, with shops catering to shinobi only a few minutes' walk away." He shrugged. "If you get lost, just ask for directions."

With that, the group of five entered the gates, leaving behind two curious shinobi with a new load of gossip.

* * *

Senju Tsunade was leaning on her hand when an ANBU appeared in front of her, kneeling, with a fist to the ground as he waited for her acknowledgement. She recognized the falcon as the ANBU who was assigned to the main gate. Motioning him to stand and report, he did as she said and reported, "A genin team from an unidentified village has entered to compete in the Chuunin Exam."

"An unidentified village?" Tsunade sat straight up, glad for a distraction from the paperwork, but worried about another new village, since Otogakure had been the newest village for the past six years and it wasn't exactly the best thing that had ever happened to Konoha. "What did their hitai-ates look like?"

"They appear to be four waves drawn with a single line," the falcon responded, monotone.

"Hmm…has Nami no Kuni built a hidden village in these last three years?"

"Not that I am aware of, Hokage-sama."

"Alright. Return to your post, Taka. If anything else comes up, alert me immediately," she commanded. With a short nod, the ANBU flickered away. The Godaime Hokage rubbed her temples. Since Jiraiya died, they hadn't had much of a spy network. As a result, they were a little behind when it came to recent news, but it didn't matter much. They had regained what strength they'd lost in the Suna-Oto Invasion and the Pain attack, returning to the levels of the Sandaime's second reign.

Madara had been completely obsessed with trying to find Naruto, but he hadn't found the boy she considered her grandson, which she was glad for. She worried about him, though; she was one of the few who knew the Naruto behind the mask and she loved him like her little brother. She tried to convince herself that he would be fine, that he was a very competent ninja as he'd demonstrated when he disappeared three years ago, but the irrational part of her wouldn't hear of it. So, trying to distract herself, she returned to the curse the gods gave to all Kages: paperwork.

* * *

Nara Shikamaru was ambling along the streets of Konoha with no direction in mind. He was off-duty at the moment; with the Chuunin Exams coming up, Tsunade wanted all of her ninja to be near the village, in case something like the Suna-Oto Invasion occurred this time. The pineapple-haired shinobi didn't mind staying; he'd been busy, taking quite a few missions recently and helping Kurenai watch over her kid when she had a mission. Today, though, they were both in the village, so Shikamaru took this chance to go cloud-watching; he hadn't had the time to relax, which was troublesome, but he was making up for it by taking advantage of his free time today.

As he passed through the market where most of the foreign teams were housed, a small group of redheads caught his attention. Three of the group had hair in various shades of red, while the female had black hair and the last male had brown hair. The group of three children indicated it was a genin team who'd come to compete in the Chuunin Exam, so one of the two older shinobi must be their sensei. The genin were looking around, obviously foreign, while their older companions walked calmly through the crowd. Or at least appeared to be.

The Nara narrowed his eyes when he caught the tense set of one of the shinobi's shoulders. This one was red-haired and grey-eyed, like two of his companions, with his hitai-ate across his forehead, but he was a lot more jumpy than the other four. His eyes shifted constantly, trying to keep track of everyone around him and trying not to seem overly suspicious at the same time; he made sure to keep the other four close to him, as though he had to protect them from something; he walked surely, seeming to know the roads like the back of his hand, which didn't make sense if he was a foreign ninja. Which, Shikamaru glanced at his hitai-ate, he was. From Nami, if he wasn't mistaken.

The group continued through the crowd, confidently taking a path that led to clan compounds. The shadow-user hesitated briefly, tilting his head back to look at the clouds wistfully and sighing, before he turned to follow the odd group.

"Troublesome."

* * *

The group of five foreign ninja passed through the streets, encountering less and less people as they moved away from the more populated areas. The genin led this time, with the two jounin walking calmly behind them. After they'd checked into their hotel, Suzume had insisted that her sensei show her the abandoned Uchiha Compound. Hikaru had been unable to refuse her pleading eyes, and his own guilt in telling her about it in the first place, and he ended up leading them through the streets.

As they moved further from the crowds though, Hikaru could tell that someone was following them. He casually glanced around, eyes passing over the other pedestrians, and took note of the shinobi he noticed around them. None of them seemed to be following his group, but he couldn't shake the feeling of being followed and he trusted his gut instinct; it had saved him before in this village and its fine tuning had saved his life afterwards. However, he put the thought on hold as they approached the gates separating the Uchiha Compound from the rest of Konoha; he was sure that the Compound's state would be another shock for Suzume.

* * *

Uchiha Suzume had always been proud to be an Uchiha. Not, like most thought, because of her Sharingan, but because they were known as one of the most protective clans in Uzu. She'd studied as hard as she could during the Academy and under Hikaru-sensei, so that she could help justify the label of the Clan and protect her family and friends. Apparently, the other branch of her Clan hadn't thought so, and she'd heard the stories passed down through the generations about their other branch. They were power-hungry, quite willing to use their friends and teammates as stepping-stones to greater power, and they also had a bit of an insanity streak because of their obsessive need to keep the Sharingan within the Clan. Along with a superiority complex and their stoic, aloof manner, they were almost the complete opposite of the Uzu branch. Though they were (distant, thank Kami!) family, Suzume had still felt grief at their destruction and guilt at the part of her that was relieved. She'd begged Hikaru-sensei to show her the Compound, so that she could find some sort of closure, but she was glad that everyone else was coming along; it wouldn't feel right to go alone.

As the gates separating the Compound from Konoha rose in front of them, Suzume began to slow down, pausing right before the gates. She was nervous about what she'd see when she crossed the gate and shoved her trembling hands into her pockets. Looking for support, she glanced to her right at calm, quiet Takumi, who met her gaze with his silently accepting expression. Turning to her left, she locked gazes with cheerful, easily-distracted Kaito, who smiled at her, looking completely relaxed. Behind her, she could see Hikaru-sensei and Arashi-san standing like guardians over her and her team. Suzume faced forward and, bolstered by the support of her team, walked through the gates.

A quick scan caused shivers to ripple up and down her spine. It was so _empty_. Nothing moved, made a sound, shifted. Nothing. Even the air felt hollow, as though the life in it had been sucked out by what had happened. She hesitantly continued walking, glancing around quickly and feeling fear seep through her. The steps of her friends seemed to echo through the Compound and Suzume felt as though people were watching her. Here and there, the walls were stained in patches, darker than the areas around it and she shivered every time her eyes landed on another spot. She could guess what they were and the patterns indicated a very messy, bloody affair.

"Hey, Kaito. What do you see?" Takumi whispered to their teammate. Suzume watched the Uzumaki boy out of the corner of her eye. They felt a brief surge of chakra, about the same amount that was needed to climb trees, and barely saw the swirls of Kaito's bloodline form.

"Lots of navy blue. Some brown on the buildings. Indigo in little patches and pools," Kaito reported, but then hesitated. "And there's this ominous black-blue in some places, almost never connected to any other bit of it and barely overlapping on the indigo." A decrease in chakra followed him returning to normal sight.

By that time, Suzume decided that it was enough. The remaining chakra gave her the creeps, since most chakra dispersed after a few months, but the chakra here hadn't, even after who knew how long. The lifeless, empty quality of the Konoha Compound had her imagining the same thing in the Uzu Compound and she was starting to panic. **[4]**

"C'mon. Let's get outta here. I've seen enough," she stated, turning to leave. The Uzu Uchiha had to stop at the sight of the shinobi in her path. The stranger surveyed them with cold, black eyes before he opened his mouth.

"_What_ are you doing here?"

* * *

Sasuke had been returning to his apartment in the Uchiha Compound when he had felt the slight rise in chakra. Knowing immediately that someone (or several someone_s_) were trespassing on Uchiha property, he'd quickly taken to the roofs and ran the rest of the way back. Landing almost silently behind the intruders, he quickly assessed them. Three genin and two chuunin-to-jounin. Rather good odds, actually, but that was only if necessary. The seal around Orochimaru's Curse Seal prevented him from using any chakra inside the village, unless it was a life-threatening situation or he got permission, but he doubted he'd need chakra for this.

When he heard the girl's statement, he internally smirked. Did she really think this was that bad? If that was true and echoed the other two's sentiments, how could her jounin-sensei really nominate her team for the Chuunin Exams, when they were obviously not ready? Maybe he'd watch this team, if only to see how she would operate under pressure.

He blanked his eyes as she turned and almost broke the stoic mask when he registered her appearance. She looked like an Uchiha! If he didn't know any better, he could have sworn they were related, but he knew, _knew_ that he and one other were the last Uchihas. To get his mind off of the girl's eerie resemblance to his family, he scanned her other companions and almost grimaced at their hair color. The bright red reminded him of a blonde dobe he had once considered his brother; he could even see resemblances between the redheads and Naruto, which caused his anger to rise. How could they even _think_ to imitate the first person he'd connected with?

Breaking off that line of thought, before the seal knocked him out, Sasuke turned to look over the last genin. This one was not one he recognized, so there were no associated feelings that could trigger the seal. The boy had brown hair and sea-green eyes, somehow reminding him of Inari, and calmly carried himself with pride. Sasuke decided that this boy must have a clan, as the way he stood reminded him of the other Konoha Twelve who were from clans.

His survey of the group completed, Sasuke demanded, "_What_ are you doing here?" and watched with interest as the other four deferred to the fire-haired shinobi, who shrugged.

"We'd heard about the Massacre, but hadn't had a reason to come to Konoha before. Since we're participating in the Chuunin Exams this year, though, we decided to come see the Compound."

The Uchiha bristled. "What, do you think this is some kind of show, where you can just walk in and out with no permission or anything?" he demanded angrily. His eyes caught the slight shift in the group, as they prepared themselves for a possible attack, and which changed their aura from nervous and apprehensive to wary.

"Troublesome. Could you try _not_ to start an international incident, Uchiha?" another voice drawled from behind him. Sasuke didn't turn around, though; he'd recognized it as the Nara's almost immediately. Although considering the first word that was said, it wasn't too difficult to guess who it was.

"I found them on my property first, Nara. There was no permission asked or clearance given or anything," Sasuke replied stiffly. He knew that, though many had gotten used to him in the village again, there were a few who had yet to accept his presence. Shikamaru was one of those few. But even if the Nara was untrusting of him, it wouldn't explain why he'd been nearby in the first place. Sasuke's eyes narrowed at the five. "Were you following them too?"

"He walked too confidently through the streets." The lazy nin nodded towards their chosen speaker. "And they're foreign."

"Hn" was Sasuke's response. The Konoha Uchiha was suspicious now. Why would these foreign shinobi know Konoha's layout so well? He hadn't missed the way the fire-haired foreigner had looked at both him and the Nara; the foreigner had recognized them, and not from a Bingo book.

"Look, I've visited this village before, okay? That's why I know my way around," the redhead replied, annoyed. "Sorry about trespassing. We're just here for the Chuunin Exams and my genin were curious. If there's nothing else…?" he continued impatiently.

Sasuke was about to demand more answers from them when the Nara stepped aside to let them pass, calculating gaze on them the entire way. The self-proclaimed avenger gritted his teeth in anger, but let them pass quietly. When they were out of earshot, he turned to Shikamaru, anger pushed aside for the moment.

"Did you notice that he recognized us?"

"Yeah." The shadow-user was still facing the way they'd gone. "This is going to be troublesome."

* * *

The day before the Chuunin Exams began, several days after the confrontation between the Uzu shinobi and the Konoha shinobi, a figure could barely be seen atop the Hokage Monument. Hikaru was sitting by himself, watching the sunset. He'd left his genin and Arashi at the hotel and gone up to this spot to be alone. It was still odd, even after seven years, to have people who would actually seek him out to talk or spar or joke around with. Sometimes he missed his solitude, where he could think in silence and not have to put up a front for anyone.

But if there was anything he really missed after he'd left, besides the obvious ramen, it would have to be the view of the sunrise and sunset from the top of this mountain. Uzu didn't have the same scenery and ocean sunrises _were_ pretty nice to see, but they weren't the same as Konoha sunrises and sunsets. Here the setting sun would paint everything red and orange and yellow, causing it all to look as though everything was in flames. It was probably why this had been named Hi no Kuni, after all.

Steps behind him made him shift a little to see who it was. It was Iruka-sensei, so he turned back to continue watching, momentarily forgetting that he was Uzumaki Hikaru at the moment.

Iruka, on the other hand, was surprised. As far as he knew, no one went up here anymore, since Naruto had left, but there was someone there. The person shifted and Iruka stumbled. He looked almost exactly like Naruto did during the sunset, though Iruka was sure Naruto had left. Hadn't he been part of the ninja who'd been sent out to look for the whiskered blonde three years ago and returned with nothing? Still, Iruka couldn't shake the feeling that this could be Naruto. The nin sat the same way Naruto had, he looked like Naruto did at this moment, and he'd reacted the same as Naruto did when he was up here without his mask. Well, he wouldn't know until he asked, right? So, Iruka gathered up his courage and asked, hesitantly, "Naruto?"

Hikaru almost answered, but a slap from some inner self reminded him that he wasn't here as Uzumaki Naruto, the jinchuuriki and Konoha nin. He was Uzumaki Hikaru, jounin-sensei to Team Three, Uzu nin, jinchuuriki, and not supposed to know the Konoha Chuunin Umino Iruka. Instead, he responded with a "Sorry? Oh, was I not supposed to be up here?" and scrambled up, dusting his pants.

Iruka could feel himself deflating at the stranger's reply. He'd convinced himself that it was Naruto and then been disappointed again. He really missed the annoying blonde ball of light. "No, no it's fine. I just thought you were someone else." He looked towards the sunset, too. "Someone I really miss."

Hikaru knew Iruka was talking about him as Naruto, so it was a bit awkward to realize that his Iruka-sensei was missing someone who was standing right beside him. The now-Uzu nin fidgeted, shifting side to side and itching to take out a kunai to toss up and down. But that would give him away, so he remained uncomfortably standing exactly where he'd been.

"Are you here for the Chuunin Exams?" Hikaru just about jumped on the question, eager to leave the silence now that he wasn't alone.

"Yeah. My genin team's back at the hotel, probably driving our representative crazy, and I had to get out." Iruka chuckled, remembering a certain blonde in his class before said blonde graduated in an unusual fashion.

"I know what you mean." Another silence followed, before Iruka spoke again. "You should really get back to your team. They'll probably feel better about tomorrow if you're there."

"Alright. I'll see you around then, I-um. Yeah." The shinobi flickered away in a Shunshin, leaving behind leaves. Iruka stared at where the odd nin had disappeared. Surely the obviously-foreign shinobi hadn't been about to say his name, right? He hadn't given it to the nin at all.

Turning to leave, Iruka resolved to watch the fire-haired ninja and went to find the Hokage to tell her about this encounter.

* * *

Kaito was excited and nervous. In a few minutes, they'd begin the First Exam of the Chuunin Exams and his team would be on their way to becoming Chuunin. He knew that Takumi and Suzume hadn't had much sleep last night, just like him, but they were all ready to face the tests. He could see Takumi making little lightning-covered strings of chakra by bringing the tips of his fingers together and then spreading them out on his right and Suzume fiddling with a scroll on his left. They were also prepared and nervous. Though Hikaru-sensei had already told them that it was fine not to pass, Kaito knew that their pride as a team wouldn't allow them to fail on the first test. The three of them exchanged glances and, by mutual agreement, entered the building at the same time. The first stage of the Chuunin Exam had begun.

* * *

**[1]** I think this is correct. Assuming Naruto is 19 during this story and Minato and Kushina are about twenty when they died, thirty years should be about accurate, if Kushina ended up going to Konoha as a child. If someone can give me a more accurate timeline, please give me a link to it or explain it to me.

**[2]** Kumo-Hidden Cloud, Suna-Hidden Sand, Ame-Hidden Rain

**[3] **See the clothing guide on leafninja . com.

**[4]** I'm being vague on purpose. I don't remember the layout of the Uchiha Compound that well, so I'm just going by what I remember and whatever I create out of other fanfics I've read.

The first real chapter of Returning Home is finally up. Yay!

Okay, so the Naruto-with-a-bloodline cliché has made its appearance with Kaito. It will be explained more later on, but there it is.

First stage of the Chuunin Exams will be up next. Hopefully the obstacle I thought up makes some sense in testing intelligence gathering and…stuff.

Repeat: I don't have a beta. Just so you all know. I'm not really asking for one either, but I'd appreciate any constructive criticism given about the characters and writing. Also, if some words are missing or the formatting seems a little screwy, could you tell me? FF's document manager isn't the best system when uploading.

I think that's it. Thanks for reading and leave a review, if you want.

Originally posted: March 5, 2011

Edited and re-uploaded: September 15, 2011

Fixed line breaks: December 22, 2011


	4. The Chuunin Exams: Round One

Disclaimer: I still don't own Naruto.

Hehe…*sheepish smile* Sorry 'bout the long wait. Umm, here's a chapter for you all, and, uh, excuses/explanations will be at the bottom.

* * *

The hotel room was quiet.

Then again, it was always quiet when the genin left, Arashi mused. Today was the first day of the Chuunin Exams, after all, and the genin had practically worn tracks in the floor the night before. They'd do fine, though; they'd been genin for a year and a half now, so this little test should be simple. Arashi paused at that thought, remembering that this was the village that had Morino Ibiki as a proctor of the First Exam six years ago. Alright, so maybe it wouldn't be simple, but he had faith that Hikaru's genin would be fine.

Hikaru, on the other hand, had returned the day before, subdued and slightly angry. Not that he'd shown his genin. Arashi rolled his eyes at the other jounin's behavior, shifting slightly on the couch. Kami forbid Hikaru show human weakness to anyone. The temporary-redhead had done the same thing, when he'd first arrived in Uzu, but the rest of the village had been able to coax him into opening up a little. Over the course of the trip here, though, Arashi had noticed Hikaru shutting them out again, and he couldn't think of a way to stop it. That frustrated him; he hated seeing his cousin fall back on defensive measures he shouldn't have needed in the first place.

Hearing a slight noise, Arashi looked up to see the other Uzumaki heading for the door. He reached out to tug on the other's sleeve and, when Hikaru looked at him, gestured to the seat in front of him. The fire-haired shinobi hesitated for a second before moving to take the seat, turning a questioning gaze toward Arashi.

The jounin began, "Hikaru…" He paused, making the decision to address his cousin by his birth name to indicate the seriousness of the conversation. "Naruto, what was that yesterday? What happened?"

Hikaru immediately shot paranoid, pointed glances to the doors and windows, warning Arashi of the dangers of revealing him here, now: paranoid, since they didn't know who could be listening, and pointed, as he technically _was_ 'Hikaru' at the moment. In response, Arashi rose from the couch and tapped a seal in the corner of the room. Hikaru adopted a sheepish expression at the reminder. The other jounin wouldn't risk his cover like that in the middle of Konoha, after all; not when Hikaru was still trying to hide.

Arashi returned to his seat and raised an eyebrow, reminding Hikaru of the original question. He looked away from his cousin, fidgeting, and tried to find something to distract Arashi. However, the room provided no distraction, so Hikaru reluctantly faced Arashi again.

"So…?"

Hikaru pulled out a kunai and started fiddling with it. "…I slipped up." He scowled, irritated that he'd already screwed up and he hadn't even been in Konoha for an entire day!

"Already?" Arashi was a little surprised. His cousin wasn't normally this bad on a mission.

"You know this was my home, even if they kicked me out three years ago. I couldn't help myself." Hikaru tried to justify himself, catching the surprise on the other's face. "And you saw the way I acted when I first arrived in Uzu. Here, that's all they know and seeing my friends…I felt like I'd never left." He shrugged helplessly.

"So that's why you wanted to place mental seals on yourself," the maroon-haired shinobi stated. Arashi now realized that Hikaru had been fully aware that he'd slip up with his old friends and tried to prevent it, but without the complete explanation, he'd been turned down with a lecture.

"Yeah. I mean I get what Jii-chan's saying about the mental seals, but…" He shrugged again.

While Arashi was still apprehensive about Hikaru erecting those mental barriers, he was aware that his cousin had actually arrived in Uzu with them in place; he hadn't had too many side-effects from the separation and merging, though, so Arashi decided it couldn't hurt to let him set those up, especially with the way this trip was already turning out.

"…I think, in this case, Jii-chan won't have to know about it," Arashi replied, slowly. Hikaru brightened immediately, but Arashi quickly continued, "However, I still need to know about yesterday."

Hikaru sighed. "Shikamaru and Sasuke, the two we met yesterday, noticed that I'd recognized them." He hesitated. "And I went to the Monument to watch the sunset again. Iruka caught me."

"Wonderful," Arashi muttered dryly. He should have known that this mission would get difficult; they always did with his cousin. Sometimes he wondered how their Jii-chan could stand to listen to all the absolutely insane things his cousin did and not want to hide him away from the world. Or get a heart attack. "And how smart are they?"

"Well, the first's a Nara, the second's a Konoha Uchiha, and the last's a teacher in the Academy." He paused. "…And they've probably told Baa-chan by now," Hikaru said, reluctantly.

"Hikaru," Arashi moaned, dropping his head into his hands. What had happened? Where had they gone wrong? Was it because they were in Konoha? He knew his cousin loved this place, had never stopped loving the village really, but was that the reason? Since he loved it so much, he couldn't stand to lie to it? Or maybe he was so used to acting a certain way that he unconsciously slipped back into that role, even though he _knew_ he was supposed to act like a different person. "Why can't you pretend this is a mission or something?"

Hikaru shifted uncomfortably. "I've been trying, but it doesn't work. It's still home to me and nothing's really changed…it's like I've stepped back in time…" His voice trailed off in the end, slightly uncomfortable with the admission, but continued after a few seconds. "That's why I need the sealing. So I don't slip up again and drag you guys down with me."

"Alright, alright. I still don't completely agree, but if you really think you need to…" Arashi fell silent as Hikaru closed his eyes and his chakra rose. Hopefully, they could still make it through the Chuunin Exams without getting caught, now that Hikaru would have a better hold on his reactions and emotions, but this was getting to be a mess of a situation. Why _did_ Jii-chan want them to go through the Chuunin Exams again, when they hadn't since the Fall of Uzushiogakure? Arashi couldn't think of any reason besides international experience, but that didn't seem to be a very good reason. Maybe he wanted Hikaru to face his past, find closure, and return to Uzu and the family he really belonged to? Well, either way, he would ask when they returned, provided everything went well.

Half an hour later, Arashi heard Hikaru shift, telling him the other had finished. He looked up from the sealing scroll he'd been working on and scanned his cousin's face. There was nothing visibly different, but there was a subtle change in his eyes that told Arashi that the sealing had gone well.

"Everything went fine then?" But that didn't mean he wouldn't ask anyway.

"Yeah," Hikaru absently responded. He glanced at Arashi, his genin returning to his thoughts. "Do you think they'll be alright?"

"They'll be fine. They're experienced," Arashi assured him. "And you're not _that_ bad a teacher, you know."

"You're right," Hikaru sighed. "I can't help but worry, though."

"…Wanna spar then?" Arashi was pretty sure that they'd be fine. Most of the shinobi would be pulled back to watch out for the Exams, so the training grounds should be pretty empty. Anyway, nothing distracted his cousin like training and sparring.

"Sure."

* * *

Takumi trailed behind his two teammates as they made their way towards the testing room. He knew that, like him, Suzume and Kaito were eagerly anticipating the challenges that they would soon face in these Exams, especially since Naruto-sensei…er, well, actually _Hikaru_-sensei (he was always, _always_ forgetting that Sensei had to be called two different names. It was part of the reason why he was quieter whenever they left Uzu; it would be disastrous, for everyone, if he slipped up) had told them about his own Chuunin Exams. It wasn't so much the absolute mess that their sensei's Exam had dissolved into (what with one of the Sannin crashing the Exam to steal Sensei's teammate and the invasion that pitted Konoha against Suna and Oto), so much as the obstacles that the teams had had to get past to even be considered for Chuunin that had his team and him so excited (not to mention the competition among all the participants). And on top of all that, they were the first team Uzu had sent to the Exams in about thirty years! Even if the other countries didn't know that, they had to do well, if only to satisfy their pride; if rookies could make it to the third round, then his team, with a year and a half of training and missions and Naru-_Hikaru_ as their sensei, had to do at least as well.

Yet, despite his confidence in his team and his abilities, Takumi couldn't help feeling a slight twinge of unease somewhere in the back of his mind. It was the same sort of feeling he'd had just before they'd walked into a trap on one of their missions, the feeling that something wasn't right, even if he didn't know what it was. He was sure it was connected to Na-_Hikaru_-sensei's weird behavior last night, as they'd all been able to see the change when, normally, no one could, but a quick glance at his teammates told the brown-haired genin that they had put it out of their minds for the moment; the obstacles of the Chuunin Exam were a more pressing problem. _Which is where my thoughts should be_, thought Takumi, but even with the first round of the Exam looming right ahead of him, he couldn't stop thinking about his sensei and his own uneasy feeling.

As they reached the door, Takumi met Kaito's questioning gaze with a raised eyebrow, catching Suzume's determined nod in the corner of his eye. Kaito grinned back at them and pushed open the door, leading them into the testing room with confidence. As soon as they cleared the doors, though, Takumi blinked three times in surprise, identifying the Konoha-nin immediately as the one from several days ago, though nothing else betrayed his surprise. And, by Suzume's sudden stiffness and Kaito's slight pause, Takumi knew that they had also recognized the pineapple-haired shinobi currently leaning on the wall at the front of the room.

His uneasy feeling took on a sense of foreboding as sleepy brown eyes landed on his team and immediately sharpened.

* * *

Shikamaru was bored.

Yes, the Chuunin Exams were starting; yes, he was the proctor for the first exam; and yes, that exam was set to begin in a few more minutes. Yet the lazy ninja was bored. All he _really_ had to do was talk for a bit and then watch the teams. The chuunin would take care of the failing groups and he could just sit back and relax. Well, as much as he would be able to in a tense room full of genin, all trying to become chuunin.

Of course, that was before the next team walked in.

As soon as the shadow user swept his gaze over the new arrivals, he'd recognized them as the team from a week or so ago, the one following the jounin who'd personally recognized him and the Uchiha. And, from the way they'd reacted, they recognized him as well. The one in the front hesitated for a split second (Shikamaru could almost see him suppress the urge to stop and demand answers), before he continued as though nothing was wrong. The girl, who looked like she could have been an Uchiha, tensed and her fingers twitched toward her weapons pouch, but then she resumed her walk, eyeing him warily. The last one merely blinked at him.

Since the Exam would technically start in another five minutes, Shikamaru decided to spend the rest of the time examining this team, as Neji and Sakura had told them that the Godaime had not been aware that there was a Namigakure no Sato**[1]** and that she wanted to keep a close eye on the shinobi of the new village. They'd been caught off-guard once before and she refused to let that happen again.

The genin, though, seemed to be pretty normal. The one who'd paused at the sight of him—a red-haired, gray-eyed genin—seemed to be having a bit of an argument with the girl, who looked uncomfortably like an Uchiha, while the last one—this one a brown-haired, green-eyed genin—looked on in exasperation. Nothing really set them apart from the other genin as far as he could tell from his brief observation; in fact, the only reason he was paying any significant attention to them was his last run-in with them had piqued his curiosity and the Hokage wanted as many eyes on them as possible.

The last five minutes passed with nothing extraordinary happening, which was just the way Shikamaru liked it, and, when the doors closed behind the last team, he sighed, pushing off the wall he'd been leaning against to begin the Exam.

* * *

Kaito tried to ignore the gaze of the proctor as he and his team went over last-minute checks, but it was difficult when he could see the ninja watching them from the corner of this eye. Takumi, though, looked like he was absolutely fine, except for the fact that his hands were hanging and he was standing straight up. The young Uzumaki knew that his friend and teammate would have been leaning against the wall that they'd put behind them with his arms crossed, if he really was relaxed, but Kaito was reassured by Takumi's stance; at least one of them would be focused on watching out for the others.

On the other hand, Suzume had yet to relax from her rather stiff pose; she was constantly darting her eyes back towards the proctor, reaching for her weapons pouch, only to stop and pull back. Kaito thanked Kami that her right side was hidden from direct view, not that it would really matter if something didn't distract her quickly. So Kaito decided to try to reassure her, even though he knew that she would snap back; at least then she wouldn't be focusing on the examiner's gaze.

"Suzume," he began quietly. "Don't worry. He won't do anything while the Exams are going on."

"But he's watching us like we're a threat," she retorted hotly, though she also kept her voice low. "Just us. How come he's not watching any of the others?" Kaito took a couple seconds to observe the jounin to confirm what Suzume was saying. The shinobi's eyes drifted over the other teams, but they always returned to his team. Just before those eyes met his, the gray-eyed genin dropped his gaze and turned back to his team.

Takumi was already answering Suzume's question. "Because the last time they had a new village enter their Chuunin Exams, it resulted in an invasion and the entire mess that Sensei got into before he came to our village. I'm sure the Hokage doesn't want that happening again."

"But we're not a new village," Suzume protested unthinkingly. "Uz—mmph!" Takumi had slapped his hand over her mouth and then dodged her reflexive counter, while Kaito quickly looked around. How many of the nearby teams had heard that first syllable and would any of them start prying? "What did you do that for?" she demanded outraged, when the Uchiha recovered.

Takumi hissed angrily, "Remember where you are right now, baka." Suzume recoiled, hurt flashing across her eyes at Takumi's voice. Kaito was taken aback. Takumi was usually the most level-headed of the three of them, but they'd never really gotten him mad before. The last time he'd been anywhere near this angry, they'd just found his younger siblings playing with live kunai. He continued, sea-green eyes glaring at Suzume as he emphasized every word. "We are in a room full of shinobi from throughout the Elemental Nations. One slip-up and we'll have everyone from Kiri to Suna coming down on our home. _I_ don't particularly want to live through a Fall, hearing the stories were quite enough for me, but if you really want to, keep right on talking."

Kaito winced. He knew Takumi could be quite vicious when he was pissed off and this just confirmed it. He _knew_ Takumi knew exactly where Suzume's thoughts would go and what she would be thinking of, but he wasn't sure how she would react. Takumi sometimes seemed to be able to understand the only girl on their team much better than Kaito, though it was Kaito who she usually spent time with. But then, Takumi had two younger sisters.

Suzume had paled, her fear and horror replacing the outrage and hurt that had been in her eyes previously, and she closed her eyes, bowing her head. Seconds ticked by where Kaito worried that she had started crying, but when she lifted her head, a determined expression had settled on her features. Kaito felt his confidence grow, despite the worry and apprehension that the proctor's gaze seemed to cultivate, as he recognized that expression. He looked at Takumi to see the normally calm genin nod to himself in a satisfied sort of way and the red-haired Uzumaki realized what his teammate had done. By reminding Suzume of the threat their village faced, he'd snapped her out of her growing panic for herself and helped her clear her head in preparation for the Exam. As she hadn't hit, burned, or otherwise hurt Takumi, Kaito knew she'd also seen his objective and, if her confident nod was any indication, she was mentally prepared for the Exam. Turning back to the proctor, who'd moved to the middle of his raised platform, Kaito felt like his team could actually pass this Exam.

* * *

"Alright; listen up, genin," Shikamaru said, above the chatter of the genin teams gathered in the room. The teams quieted down and turned to look at him. "I'm Nara Shikamaru, the examiner of the first part of the Chuunin Exams. Before I explain what you'll have to do for this round, each team should sit in one of the tables spread out around the room." The teams grumbled a bit as they went around claiming tables and taking seats. When the genin stopped moving, each team was seated around a small wooden table and they all turned back to the Nara, as chuunin went around placing a box and a manila folder on each table.

With a sigh, the shadow user continued. "Each folder contains three clues that will help you open the box in front of you. You have one hour to open the box correctly and retrieve the scroll inside. If you fail to open the box by the end of the hour, you fail. If you open the box incorrectly, you fail. If you somehow destroy the scroll within the box, you fail. You only have one chance to open the box and we will know if you screwed up." He paused, thinking. "That's about it. No questions allowed and you can't talk to your teammates." Some of the genin opened their mouths to protest, while others paled or gaped at him, but Shikamaru ignored them all with a small smirk. "The test begins now."

* * *

Hikaru hit the ground hard, his breath leaving in a _whoosh_, with his opponent pressing down on him. A quick, harsh kick and a bit of wrestling later, he had the other pinned to the ground, unable to get up. He held the other ninja there for a couple more seconds before he released his cousin and got up, only to settle himself back down right next to the downed ninja. Arashi rolled over to face his cousin and frowned, rubbing his stomach.

"…that was different."

"Different?" Hikaru raised an eyebrow. "Different, how?"

Arashi looked out towards the trees, replaying the most recent fight in his mind. "Some of those moves…I've never seen you use those before," he said slowly. "Not when you just arrived and not after you finally opened up."

"…huh?" Hikaru cocked his head at his cousin, looking at him curiously.

Arashi shook his head. "Never mind. I can look into it later."

With a shrug, Hikaru flopped onto his back. "Alright then. Whatever you say."

A couple moments of silence passed where only the wind could be heard.

"How do you think they're doing?"

Arashi groaned. "Time's not gonna move any faster just because you asked again, Hikaru."

"I can't _help_ it, Arashi," Hikaru returned, glaring up at the maroon-haired shinobi sitting beside him. "I keep telling myself they'll be fine and then I'll remember all the things that could go wrong." He returned his gaze to the clouds above him and felt nothing as he remembered Shikamaru; a part of him found that chilling. "I'll have myself almost convinced that they'll breeze right through it and then I'll get this image of Orochimaru bursting out through the trees to kill them or the way Gaara's sand just"—he made a smashing motion with his hands—"and then I'll start to worry all over again."

"Hikaru, they'll be fine," Arashi repeated, rolling his eyes. His cousin worried more than his mom did. "You did do a good job with them, regardless of how you feel about it. I mean, look at the way you guys got through that C-rank; I certainly couldn't do that with my teammates when I was their age."

"Yeah, but it ended up even worse than the C-turned-A-rank that I went through as a genin. I mean, sure we fought against missing-nin and Zabuza and Haku, but none of us were in actual danger of _dying_," Hikaru said obliviously before pausing, as Arashi sweat-dropped. _Yeah, that's what you think._ The fire-haired nin's brow furrowed. "None of us _were_ in danger of dying, except Kakashi-sensei and Tazuna-ji-san," he repeated slowly in a voice that told Arashi that his cousin was re-examining the events of that mission. "Haku wouldn't have killed me or Sasuke and I'm pretty sure if Kakashi-sensei had lost to Zabuza, Haku wouldn't have let him kill Sakura. But Kakashi-sensei wouldn't have lost to Zabuza unless he killed him and Zabuza could only complete his mission by killing Tazuna-ji-san…" Arashi blinked. Apparently, his cousin really _could_ have gotten away from the Demon of the Mist if things hadn't gone the way they did. Or, at least, he had pretty good reasoning as to why he probably would have been safe. Not that Arashi was too surprised, things had a way of working out like that when Naruto (or Hikaru) was involved, but still, it wasn't everyday you learn that your cousin encountered a missing-nin at twelve, who probably wouldn't have minded letting him live.

Hikaru shook his head after a while, clearing his thoughts and refocusing on his current team. "Anyway—"

Arashi cut him off. "I'm sure they're fine, Hikaru. It's only been about fifteen minutes since they started and, if this Exam is anything like the Exam you went through, nothing dangerous should have come up yet."

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right," the fretting jounin replied, starting to gain confidence. "This should only be the information gathering part, so they should be fine."

Arashi gave a sigh of relief. Maybe now Hikaru could relax for a couple of minutes.

"Kuso! I don't think I covered information gathering! Arashi, Arashi, I don't think I covered it. They're gonna fail, Arashi!"

"Hikaru!"

* * *

Five minutes into the First Exam, Team Three had opened the manila folder, taken out the three pictures, and proceeded to try to puzzle out the clues. The first page had a picture of a forest, in the middle of a storm, on fire, after being struck by lightning; the entire thing was in black and white, except the lightning, which was yellow. The second page held a diagram of the tenketsu, as well as the Eight Gates, completely labeled. The third page showed a ninja summoning a small animal.

_How are these supposed to help us open the box?_ Kaito thought in frustration, glancing around the room. _They don't even make any sense._ He turned his attention to his teammates. Takumi was examining the tenketsu page, his eyes darting across the piece of paper, and the Uzumaki knew that his friend was matching up the diagram he'd memorized to the one in front of him. Suzume had narrowed her eyes at the box itself and seemed to be trying to glare it into opening when Kaito caught a flash of red in her eyes. _Oh, so that's what she's doing. _Kaito mentally shrugged. Well, it made more sense than trying to glare it open. Activating his own doujutsu, he turned his gaze towards the box as well, trying not to get distracted by the flashes of other colors he caught on the edges of his vision.

The box itself had no chakra color, but swirling around it was a black layer sluggishly shifting around in a pattern that he thought might look familiar. He squinted his eyes, watching that black layer intently, spotting some brown spots that he might have missed otherwise, but he couldn't remember where he'd seen that pattern before, so he returned to normal vision, feeling the beginnings of a headache. Kaito looked for the clock and saw that about ten minutes had passed, which left them with forty-five minutes to solve the puzzle. Another scan of the room showed that none of the other teams had tried to open their boxes yet, so Kaito decided that he'd put his head down for a second; Suzume had moved on to a paper clue and Takumi was still scanning the diagram, but neither of them were paying attention to him and the headache was growing. Burrowing his head into his folded arms, Kaito closed his eyes and listened to the rustling of papers around the room, as he tried to decipher that pattern on the box.

* * *

Suzume had been paying attention when Kaito decided to look like he was taking a nap, but she'd also felt when he'd activated his doujutsu and she knew it would give him a headache. She remembered hearing Hikaru-sensei and Arashi-senpai warning him against using the doujutsu when there were a lot of other shinobi because the doujutsu was based on color and too much color could give the user a headache. The young Uchiha was glad her doujutsu didn't do that, though she did envy that he could access it without having to go through anything.

Refocusing on the task before her, she couldn't help the frustrated sigh that gave at the picture in front of her. It was just a picture of a forest being blown about during a storm. The trees were leaning to the right, the rain was falling at a slant, there was a fire in the trees, there were mountains in the background, and that yellow bolt of lightning, the only spot of color on the page. What the hell was that supposed to mean anyway? And why would someone draw out the gusts of wind? She assumed it was some kid who added to the picture because everything else was pretty realistic, except those gusts of wind.

She leaned back in her seat, placing the picture on the table, and stared at it. Why would they give them a picture of a forest during a storm? How was that supposed to help them open up a box? She huffed, glancing around the room with the slim hope that there was a hint around somewhere.

It was a pretty normal classroom, reminiscent of the one she spent her schooling days in before she got paired up with the two boys who would be her teammates. There was the chalkboard in the front, the open space for the teacher, the windows for the taunting view, the map of the Elemental Countries…Suzume looked back at the map and then looked down at the picture. _It's not a coincidence, is it, for the picture to specifically show that scene_, she thought, eyes darting back to the map and then to the picture again, matching the elements she saw on the map to the ones on the page. Mizu, water, the rain falling slanted. Tsuchi, earth, the black horizontal streaks and waves. Kaze, wind, the funny gusts she'd thought a child had drawn. Hi, fire, the fire formed from the lightning strike. And Kaminari, thunder, where the _Rai_kage could be found. The five elements that most jutsu could be assigned to. Was Raiton a clue that would help them open the box?

Suzume looked at her teammates and was about to speak when she stopped herself. She couldn't talk to Takumi or Kaito about what she'd just found out and, she was starting to realize, they couldn't discuss their puzzles or their answers with each other. How were they supposed to communicate what they'd found? There were no other pieces of paper and, besides, they had nothing to write with. Hikaru-sensei hadn't gotten around to teaching them his series of hand signs yet, since they hadn't really needed them and now she was really regretting it. She was going to have to try to pass on her information before they ran out of time. She had just turned to nudge Kaito up when Takumi gasped and finally looked away from his paper.

* * *

The sea-green-eyed genin had spent the past twenty minutes going over each and every single point on the diagram to check that it was right. He'd been studying iryojutsu on the side and one of the things he'd memorized at the beginning had been the tenketsu diagram. So, he'd matched up every point with the diagram he'd memorized and caught a change in the labeling manner of certain points. He'd focused on those ones individually, trying to figure out why they'd been changed, but he could find no reason to connect them all. But when he looked at all the points together with the rest of the body, it basically told them which pathways they had to push chakra through to create a certain handprint. Was that the clue that this paper indicated? A handprint that would unlock or help unlock the box? The others hopefully had some ideas, so Takumi looked up to check on his teammates, not realizing that he'd gasped when it all fell together.

Kaito was blinking at him, as though he'd just woken up, rubbing his elbow with a slight furrow between his eyes, and Takumi couldn't help raising an eyebrow at him. The Uzumaki shrugged with a slight grimace, telling Takumi that he'd accidentally fallen asleep. Takumi looked at Suzume to find her leaning back in her chair, taking deep breaths. When he raised a questioning eyebrow at her, she glared at him briefly, before imitating a silent gasp and looking pointedly at him. Takumi could feel himself starting to flush when he realized what she meant, and he gave her a sheepish look, hoping that she would interpret it as an apology and accept it. When she shrugged and passed her page over to him, he was relieved; after that and his earlier harsh words, he feared she might not be in the mood to forgive him, but he was glad to see that he hadn't needed to worry.

He looked down at the picture she slid in front of him and recognized the page with the forest in a storm on it. He tilted his head to the side in question and she tapped the lightning bolt. He didn't get it and drew a question mark in the air to show her he was still confused. She rolled her eyes at him and shoved the paper towards Kaito who had shaken his head, glanced around the room, and checked the clock to see how long he'd been asleep or dozing. When she repeated her actions, the gray-eyed genin looked from the paper, to her, to the paper, and then leaned back and closed his eyes, folding his arms to indicate that he was thinking.

While Kaito was thinking about that, Takumi took his diagram and showed Suzume the path he'd found in the tenketsu points. She studied the diagram for a couple of seconds, before nodding slowly and looking back at him with the question in her eyes. He gestured toward the box and mimed twisting a key in a lock, before looking back at her with the raised eyebrow. She tilted her head, considering the question, and then nodded hesitantly. She then pointed at him and brought her fingertips together and pulled them apart a couple times, at which Takumi realized that she had been talking about Raiton being one of the clues.

Kaito had opened his eyes while they were exchanging their information and picked up the last page from the folder, the one with the generic ninja summoning a small generic animal. The other clues had given them an affinity and a pattern? shape? Was the key for the box a jutsu? And if it was, how was Kuchiyose no Jutsu**[2]** supposed to help them? He passed the picture to Suzume and stared at the box, thinking about what they did have. Lightning and a chakra pattern. One he didn't know or recognize from any jutsu he'd heard about, used, or seen. So…maybe it wasn't a jutsu at all? But then why would they have an affinity and a pattern?

Frustrated, he buried his head in his hands, though he did make sure not to lie on the table; he didn't want to fall asleep again. What did he know about Kuchiyose no Jutsu? It was the result of a contract between the shinobi and the…whatever was being summoned, it involved blood and chakra, and _different amounts of chakra resulted in different…whatevers being summoned_. Kaito straightened, as he figured it out. _So to summon something small, you'd need a small amount of chakra, which means that the amount of chakra needed to unlock the box was the same amount needed to summon a small…thing_. But when he tried to fit all three parts together, it made no sense. Regardless, he passed on his information to Takumi and Suzume to think on, though it took some time to indicate level or amount of chakra to them. By the time they'd understood, they had thirty-five minutes left and the first team decided they'd gotten the combination.

* * *

Shikamaru had practically fallen asleep five minutes into the Exam and left the chuunin to deal with the genin teams. Of course, considering the fact that the other villages remembered Morino Ibiki's reign as proctor, there really was almost no reason for the chuunin to watch over them. However, some, if not all, of the chuunin currently in the room were suddenly quite glad to have been assigned Chuunin Exam duty this year.

Why? some of the colleagues will ask afterwards. Because when Shikamaru set up the box puzzles, he modeled the consequences of an incorrect combination after his missing friend and ditching buddy. That being the case, the first team that tried to enter what they thought was the correct combination had had their box blow up in their face with a large cloud of purple smoke. As the smoke dispersed, that genin team was revealed to have gained sunglasses, a dusting of purple powder, and the hairdo of someone who had just been driving two hundred miles an hour. When they tried to rub the powder off, it only made their hands and clothes purple.

The team was shooed out of the room and told that the color would come off with a shower in their home country. The shadow user hadn't seemed to move an inch during the entire debacle, but a single brown eye closed as a satisfied smile settled on his face. _This one's for you, Naruto._

* * *

Taka was quite annoyed at the moment. He'd been looking forward to spending the day with his cousin and their mutual acquaintances, as today was supposed to be his day off; the most strenuous thing he was supposed to be doing was calming down the two of their group who had taken on genin and whose genin were currently in a room with Shikamaru, trying to solve a puzzle. Godaime-sama, however, had called for him before he could meet up with them and now he was making sure that there was no suspicious activity occurring while everyone's attention was on the Academy and the genin inside. So far, he'd seen nothing; it was just an ordinary day in Konoha.

He was about to take off for the Hokage Tower, this being his last stop before he could pass this job to the next person, when he noticed the two jounin, supposedly from Nami, sitting together in a clearing. One of them appeared to be panicking, while the other was trying half-heartedly to calm him down. Curious, the falcon made his way over to see if he could hear anything of interest.

"They'll be fine, Hikaru. Don't worry so much."

"But what if they don't make it past this round? They'll be upset and then _I'll_ have to deal with them during training. And then if they do, how do you think they'll do on the next round?" The jounin put his head in his hands and groaned. "I never realized taking on a genin team would be this stressful."

The other jounin laughed. "That's 'cause you didn't think when you took them on. He just asked and you said yes."

Shortly after, the two jounin began discussing other trivial things and Taka left to report to the Hokage. As he jumped across the rooftops, he wondered, was it odd that he felt as though they'd known he was there? Shaking his head, he dismissed the thought. He was ANBU and they were jounin; that was all there was to it.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, twelve more teams had either forfeited or entered the wrong combination and Team Three had started to panic. They only had fifteen minutes left and, since every team that left or messed up became a distraction, they still hadn't figured out what the three clues meant. They frantically ran through lists of jutsu that they knew in an effort to figure out what those three clues together meant, but nothing fit. Another explosion indicated another team failing and they barely gave the pranked team a glance before turning back to the box.

At twelve minutes to go, three teams successfully opened their boxes and three of the chuunin had gone over to give them the next instructions, while another four had messed up or left.

At ten, five more teams opened their boxes and only two were kicked out.

Eight more minutes and Kaito silently suggested they separate the clues and use them to unlock the box at the same time.

Seven minutes and another two teams passed, one was kicked out, and the three clues had been distributed.

Six minutes and the three genin looked at each other. It was all or nothing.

With five minutes left on the clock, Suzume channeled Raiton as Takumi shaped it and Kaito directed a small amount towards the box. And it clicked open. They were moving on to the second round!

Before they could make any other movements, a chuunin appeared at their table. "Keep quiet, kids. You may have opened the box, but the round is still going. If you talk, you can still be thrown out." His words dampened their enthusiasm a little, but they were still giddy. They'd made it! Suzume reached out to grab the scroll, but a word from the chuunin stopped her. "I wouldn't do that yet, kid. They're still set to self-destruct, if time's not up." Pouting, she pulled back her hand, but she couldn't hold the pout for long anyway. It was a relief that they would be moving on and the sudden release of tension buoyed their mood for the remaining time.

Once the five minutes were up, the proctor stood up again, looking like he just woke up from a nap. "So, forty-eight of you are still in the room, huh?" He shrugged. "Eh, good job passing the first round." The genin turned to their teammates in relief and started muttering to each other. "You've got another two to go." The genin collectively groaned or sighed at the reminder, while the chuunin chuckled darkly. "Anyway," the jounin continued, "one, and only one, member from each team may now pick up their scroll." The genin teams gave each other nervous looks; the way the proctor spoke was a bit ominous. Cautiously, one member of each team reached out for the scroll. As soon as one member from each team held the scroll in his or her hand, Shikamaru activated the seals on the scrolls and that member disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The genin teams jumped to their feet, yelling for their teammates or at the jounin and chuunin that watched them, amused, as they demanded to know what happened and where they had gone. Once they had settled down some, the genin received one reply: "That's what you'll have to find out."

* * *

Takumi crouched in his cloud of smoke, left hand holding a trio of kunai, while his right hand held the scroll. His eyes darted around, immediately registering the loss of his teammates, and he tensed. _This had better be part of the Exam_, he thought, as his hand tightened around the kunai and he channeled his chakra into them. As the cloud dispersed, another chuunin, different from the one who had been at their table, leaned comfortably on the closed door. Takumi narrowed his eyes.

"Easy there, kid," the chuunin said, one corner of his mouth quirking up. "This is part of the Exam."

Takumi shifted, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Seriously, this is the second part of the Exam," the chuunin replied in response. With a sigh, he straightened, and Takumi backed away from him. The chuunin rolled his eyes. "Here's the deal, kid. You have to find your way out of this building, with that scroll." He indicated the scroll Takumi held in his right hand that had brought the genin to the room. "The catch? You have to find your teammates first and not lose the scroll. They'll be coming in from one of the entrances, which will be locked behind them. There's only one way out and your team must be complete with that scroll. This is the dangerous part. Genin will be killed during this part and once that happens, you're out of the running. You have three days. Good luck." And he disappeared in another cloud of smoke.

Takumi held his position for a few more seconds, listening for any other sounds. Hearing none, he took off his jacket, unstrapped the scroll he'd hidden on his back, and replaced with the Exam's. He shrugged his jacket back on and slid his scroll into his pocket. That finished, he crept to the door, eased it open, and slipped into the dark corridors. It was time to find his team.

* * *

Suzume and Kaito were shifting impatiently in front of their assigned door. It had already been almost fifteen minutes since Takumi had disappeared in a cloud of smoke in the testing room. They, along with the other thirty genin, had milled about, worried, for five whole minutes before their next proctor had arrived. There had been a brief moment where Suzume and Kaito merely stared at their proctor, recognizing him from Hikaru-sensei's stories and from the Bingo Book they'd been shown. Hatake Kakashi, the only known non-Uchiha that had the Sharingan, one of only three Sharingan users left in the Elemental Countries. Sharingan no Kakashi, rumored to have copied a thousand jutsu, a retired ANBU member, and their sensei's sensei. But their awe was quickly overcome by their worry for Takumi, so they sat quietly and listened closely to the rules for the next round. As soon as they were led to the building, they snatched the closest entrance they could, only to be told that each team had been assigned one. Reluctantly, they moved to their assigned door and were waiting impatiently for the signal to begin. They kept glancing at the chuunin who stood watching them in amusement, as he listened to the radio in his ear.

With a smirk, he said, "Go on. Your friend's already on the move," and they were gone, already forgetting that this was an Exam; they had a friend to find.

* * *

**[1]** Should translate to Village Hidden in the Waves, but I'm not sure that it does. I'm just going by the way the other villages' names are set up.

**[2]** Summoning Technique, according to leafninja . com

Right, so I really was intending to get this up two weeks after the last one, only my parents prodded me to go study for a piano theory test and my muse died. Then, I had a couple recitals, AP testing, finals, graduation, prom, final projects…yeah. Then, once summer vacation started, I was being attacked by other ideas and I couldn't get my lazy ass moving. Of course, seeing that people were still reading after…six months, well, then I really started looking back and trying to find the muse for this story, in between packing for college and getting lost in the archives of fanfiction. A couple re-reads and a few days later, here we are, with the fourth chapter of Returning Home.

…yeah. Hopefully, this chapter makes up for some of the long wait and I will begin work on the next chapter immediately. Also, this Sunday, I am moving into my dorm and classes start on Thursday. Just a heads-up. I also haven't reread this chapter, as I usually do, because I wanted to get this out to you guys, so any mistakes, just point them out, please. Thanks.

Repeat: I don't have a beta. Just so you all know. I'm not really asking for one either, but I'd appreciate any constructive criticism given about the characters and writing. Also, if some words are missing or the formatting seems a little screwy, could you tell me? FF's document manager isn't the best system when uploading.

I think that's it. Thanks for reading and leave a review, if you want, on your way out.

Originally posted: September 16, 2011


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